Nagoya Castle

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Having arrived in Nagoya in the afternoon on 16 October 2008, we decided to stroll through the grounds of Nagoya Castle. Whilst walking through the avenue, we saw gardeners and planters selling bonsai pots, assembling the loops to present chrysanthemum, and preparing for chrysanthemum festival. It was mild, sunny, and pleasant afternoon. There were many types of shrubs and trees grown on the grounds of Nagoya Castle and we could hear birds warbling and singing tunefully among the bushes and branches of birches and oaks. We couldn't hear the traffics whilst walking on the woodlands. We found a number of old birches and oaks preserved on the site and learnt that they were planted by historical celebrities over 250 years ago. We rambled through the castle's garden, i.e. Ninomaru Garden featuring pine trees, teahouse, hedges, rocks, and the remains of brook, pond, and watercourses which were made of coarse rubbles.

We planned looking round the Nagoya castle in the morning before setting off to Takayama on 17 October 2008. We learnt that the restoration work of the former residential palace had been carried out, and found very colourful dolls representing shogun and his wife around the site. These dolls were covered with pines, decorated with pink, white, and yellow chrysanthemums, and displayed on the background of the illustrated image of the restored residential house with shogun's men bowing (welcoming visitors) on the ground. There were four or five floors which were used as exhibition rooms. We saw a wide range of artefacts and treasures e.g. the golden dragon, which is attached on the roof of the castle, the model of the original Nagoya castle, armoury collection, porcelain, murals drawn on the sliding doors, and sedan chairs which were used for the festivals, to name just a few. We went to the observatory and overlooked the grounds and adjacent lush parklands, saw skyscrapers and highways of the Japan's fourth largest city and historical castles, e.g. Inuiyama Castle and Gifu Castle beyond. Afterwards, we looked round the model of the former castle town on the basement floor. It was fascinating to see old-fashioned police station, bookshop, convention room, and kitchen laden with a set of dinner services. Finally, we watched the 3D cinema of the prospective building development including the showroom of drawing room, bedroom, and convention room and the film showed how these rooms were used in the past.

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Comments

[mariana]

That's cool
that is so wish i could go there but i live way to far.....please write comment back...you see.. im doing this school asignment and i need to post a comment and i need one back from you so please comment back... thanks :)